Saturday, Jan.19 4:00 – 4:50 pm 2nd Fl Crystal Rm East
A crankie is an old storytelling art form. Called a moving panorama in the 19th century, this scrolling, picture art form is experiencing a bit of a comeback. It’s a long illustrated scroll that is wound onto 2 spools, loaded into a box with a viewing screen and illuminated from behind. The scroll is hand cranked while accompanied by a narrative, song or tune. Crankies by Kelsey Nelsen, Alex MacLeod, Emily Teachout and Maggie Neatherlin. You can see a beautiful Crankie here.

Saturday night Square dance — Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room — Saturday, January 19, 9 – 10:00 pm
The Barn Owls are an old-time, country trio from Seattle. One late summer evening, Brittany Newell, Hanna Traynham and Kate Lichtenstein spent hours trading tunes around the woodstove. By the end of the night, they were a band. Now, joining them on bass, is Katy Harris.The Barn Owls bring an intuitive and inventive bent to the old-time and early country music tradition, mixing high energy dance tunes with tight three-part harmonies on traditional and original songs.

Brooks not only makes amazing banjos, he plays them as well. As he has the past few years, he’ll be serving as the genial host of our big Sunday cabaret. His ever-changing array of flamboyant costumes is not be missed.

Greg and Jere Canote are identical twins whose music is all about having a good time. They do, you will. It’s steeped in vintage Americana — forgotten fiddle tunes, swing classics, and quirky novelty songs — but with their own twists (and a few of their brilliant original takes on the world around us). They’re fabulous musicians, moving effortlessly among fiddle, guitar, banjo, ukulele, and various hybrids, and their genetically-matched voices recall brother duets from the Blue Sky Boys to the Everlys.

Family Square Dance — Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room — Saturday, January 19, 3 — 3:50 pm
Caroline Oakley is a musician and dance calling machine who has been teaching and calling old-time community square dances for over a decade. She enjoys fiddling, playing guitar, singing old country songs, growing vegetables, sewing, fermenting things, dancing, and numerous other forms of physical activity. She has called at many of the West-Coast’s premier old-time and bluegrass music festivals. Caroline also teaches music to young families through Music Together, teaches community square dancing in local schools, and with her husband Pete Leone, raises three young boys.

Mandolin is an awesome tool for playing in a old time session- you can support and counterpoint the melody, and add to the rhythmic drive at the same time! We will discuss right and left hand techniques, learn some fun double stops, and learn a Fiddle tune together. And have fun! This will be an intermediate-advanced class, but you may find it helpful if you are still figuring things out.

Clawhammer Banjo workshop Saturday, Jan. 19, 12:00 – 12:50 pm, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, The Tiffany Center
Playing clawhammer banjo is a real joy, and through some great, old songs we’ll take a peek at the banjo’s many plucky possibilities. I’ll start with some foundational banjo techniques, and then cover their many uses and variations. There will be an emphasis on creating solid grooves. All experience levels welcome. We’re gonna have fun and learn stuff too, so bring your banjo, any banjo questions you may have and your voice. Please don’t bring claws and hammers…I’ll explain.

Flatfooting workshop Saturday Jan. 19th, 5 – 6:00 pm, 4th Floor Emerald Room, The Tiffany Center
Learn to how accompany old time music through the art of flatfooting! We’ll cover the basics in the first half of this workshop, then we’ll move onto intermediate level steps in the second half. Wear comfortable clothing, and preferably smooth-soled, low-heeled shoes, and bring a water bottle.

Saturday Square Dance – Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room – Saturday January 19, 10:00 — 11:00 pm
The Cully Cutups (Caleb Klauder, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Patrick Lind, Reeb Willms, and Jay Marvin) are the longest continuously standing NE Portland old time band, haling from the urban hollers of the Prescott/Alameda Ridge. Despite the rigors of a grueling schedule of up to one gig a year, and fueled by frequent lineup changes, the Cutups have managed to retain their unique Old Time sound. Sights and sounds of trains, river barges, and the #75 bus, along with the gray rainy weather of the Maritime NW, have left its mark on this group. Shrouded in residual PDX jet fuel and thick woolen clothing, these unique individuals are charged by the struggle to maintain a cheerful disposition during the long winter months. The Cutups’ energy is reminiscent of the Mighty Stickervillle Throb. Even a crippled old woman couldn’t resist the urge to cut-a-rug to this Portland powerhouse.

Featuring Linnea Spitzer on fiddle, Brooks Masten on banjo, Robin Wilcox on bass, and Eric Bagdonas on guitar, the Flat Rock Stringband has been playing old-time tunes together around the Portland area since 2009. The band’s name can be explained by a phrase found twice in Kesey’s Sometimes a Great Notion that refers to how much it rains in the Northwest

Square Dance Caller – Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room – Saturday, January 19, 10:00 – 11:00 pm.
Gabe Strand is a square dance caller residing on Lopez Island in Washington state’s San Juan Islands. He splits the calling duties for the monthly dance on Lopez with fellow Lopezian Kelsey Nelson and has called at dances around the Northwest. Kelsey and Gabe have been inspired by the duo calling of Eugene and Ellen Radcliffe in West Virginia and plan to work up a few fun duet calls for their back to back Saturday night dance sets.

The Happy Valley Sluggers play the Cajun two-steps and waltzes which emanate from the dance halls and roadhouses that dot the countryside of southwest Louisiana. It’s definitely dance music. One simply cannot sit still while listening to the compelling back-beat of a Cajun twostep. The Sluggers feature: Mike Schway, fiddle and Cajun accordion; Laurel Bliss, Cajun fiddle; John Clark, bass, Nina Richardson, guitar; and Andy Rick, pedal steel.

Saturday Night Square Dance, Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room — Saturday, January 19, 8-9:00 pm
The Horsenecks play hard-hitting and heartfelt Old Time and early Bluegrass stringband music. They are made up of Gabrielle Macrae of Portland, OR on fiddle, Barry Southern of Liverpool, England on Banjo, and the legendary Portland rhythm section of Kevin Sandri and Brian Bagdonas on guitar and bass.

Old Time Texas Fiddle Workshop:
Howard Rains will present and teach tunes from the deep well of his repertoire of old style Texas fiddle tunes. This is a more archaic style than is commonly thought of in regards to Texas fiddling. Howard learned much of his unique repertoire from family, friends, mentors, and rare home recordings. For four generations, Howard’s family has played on the same fiddle, his son is the fifth.

Cajun/Honky Tonk Night -– The Spare Room 4830 NE 42nd Ave. — Thursday, January 17, 7:30 — 8:45 pm
Idyltime, a band originally playing bluegrass out of southern Oregon, re-formed in 2011 when Beth and Tate Mason moved to Boise, Idaho. There they joined up with Dave Daley and Ava Honey who were hosting a weekly old-time jam at Pengilly’s Saloon. Dave and Ava continue to be extremely active in developing the acoustic roots music and square dance scene in Boise. With over 40 years of fiddling, Dave brings a lifetime of musical experience to the original songwriting of the band. Fiddle, banjo, dobro, guitar, upright bass. Four voices, eight hands, forty fingers. Let’s pick!

For the last three years, storyteller, fiddler, and award-winning public radio producer Joe McHugh has traveled across the United States and parts of Europe to record in-depth interviews with noted musicians, violin makers, dealers, collectors, tone-wood producers, string designers, museum curators, and even FBI agents who helped recover stolen violins. These interviews will be featured in new public radio/podcast series titled Rosin the Bow, in partnership with radio station WTJU-FM and the University of Virginia. The archive of recorded interviews will also become a part of the permanent collection of violin-related materials at The Smithsonian National Museum of American History. In this workshop, Joe will share what he has learned on his journey. He will talk about how violins are constructed and repaired, how the wood is sourced, how the strings are made, and how luthiers learn their trade. He will also discuss the violin’s colorful history and folklore. What is it about this instrument – this box with strings – that has fascinated men and women for so many centuries? Have you ever wondered why old-time fiddlers put rattlesnake rattles inside their fiddles? Did Paganini’s mother really sell his soul to the devil? Being an accomplished fiddler himself, Joe will share tunes and stories drawn from the rich folklore and musical traditions of America, Scotland, Ireland, and Scandinavia. So, bring along your fiddle and your curiosity.

Kids’/Family Jam Leader— Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room — Saturday, January 19, 12 — 12:50 pm
Kate grew up in a musical family outside of Detroit (the one in Michigan). Back in the 70’s, her Dad would come home from work at GM, loosen his tie and sit at the piano and play an eloquent mix of classical, boogie woogie, stride and whatever else he felt like, in the quiet dark of the living room. There were four kids running around that house and he never had to tell anyone to be quiet in that room – it was unspoken respect and reverence. Kate often just sat and listened. And then he discovered the BANJO! Kate has played violin since she was 9 years old and although happily classically trained, she, like her Dad, has been exploring other genres for the last 15 years. She calls it her musical ADD. She caught the groove of the old time bug about 10 years ago. She loves the people who play this stuff as much as the music itself. She has had a private violin/fiddle teaching studio in SE Portland for the last 12 years. Kate is happy to meet your kiddos and families again this year! Come learn a new tune and jam!

Kelsey Nelsen is an artist and square dance caller who lives on Lopez Island in Washington state’s San Juan Islands. She organizes square dances and other events in the San Juans and calls dances around the Northwest and in Portland. She created the beautiful poster for the 2016 Gathering.

By Ear Harmony Singing — Tiffany Center 3rd floor Conference Room — Saturday, January 19, 2 – 3:30 pm
Leela is a nationally-known singer, songwriter, banjo player, recording artist, percussive dancer and teacher of music and dance. Originally from Missouri, she spent a beautiful 8 years in Portland, teaching popular banjo, by-ear harmony singing, and Appalachian clogging classes. In 2014, Leela embarked on the new adventure of motherhood and in late 2015, Leela and her family moved to northern Vermont following a job opportunity for her husband. After many “adventures” in the snowy northern lands of the east, she has returned to the Pacific Northwest, inspired and ready to resume teaching and performing in her home community.

Leela has performed and taught nationally for over 25 years, first with her family, and now as a solo musician and with her sister Ellie Grace (as Leela and Ellie Grace – check this video of them clogging together). As a teacher of music and dance, Leela has inspired literally thousands of school children, banjo students, percussive dancers, and singers of all ages through the classes, school assemblies, week-long camps, and lessons that she has taught across the U.S. and Canada since she was little more than a child herself. She is a kind, entertaining, experienced teacher who offers clear, understandable instruction to singers, musicians, and dancers of all levels.

JAM SESSION at the Moon and Sixpence — 2014 NE 42nd Ave. – 7:00 – 10:00pm
Ken and Lori love old time tunes and know a bunch of them. Come join us for some of your favorites and a maybe you’ll even pick up a few gems to add to that list! Bonus: A lot of your friends will be there. A lot of beers to choose from. Great pub food!

Square Dance – The Village Ballroom, – Wednesday, January 16 – 7-8 pm
Maris Otter is an old-time stringband from Portland, Oregon. Sean Burke and Andy Sheie formed the band as a duo in 2008 based on their shared love of old-time fiddle tunes and harmony singing, and, as a duo, freely switched between guitar, banjo, and fiddle as the tunes required. The duo has expanded to Brian Bagdonas, and Lucas Jones, but even as a full band the members continue to trade instruments over the course of their sets. The band has performed at venues around the Willamette Valley and at the annual Portland Old-Time Music Gathering, and can be found on the second Sunday of every month playing tunes in the corner booth at Saraveza in North Portland.

Square Dance Caller – Friday Night Square Dance – The Tiffany Center, 4th Floor, Jan. 18, 10:30-11:30 pm.
Marta lives in her hometown of Portland, OR where she serves on the Sunday Squares Square Dance and Dare to be Square – West! organizing committees. She first began calling in 2013 at Dare To Be Square – West! in LA and has continued to learn from her incredible Portland community of bad-ass lady callers. She is very fond of red lipstick, and aspires to turn every party into a dance party.

Square Dance Caller, Wednesday night Square Dance, The Village Ballroom, 704 NE Dekum St., 8 – 9:00 pm
Ned Leager started calling dances way back in the 20th century during the Carter administration. He claims the North Carolina tradition of running sets as his foundation and has built a rickety and haphazard, but entertaining, edifice of dance calls from there. He ventured into contra dance calling but has reformed and has been clean for quite a while now. His favorite figure is the Georgia Rangtang and he loves to rhyme “big left toe” with “Mexico” when directing dancers where to grab ’em and where they should go once they have ’em.”

Artist in Residence. Friday Concert – Tiffany center, Emerald Room 4th Floor – Friday, January 18, 9 – 10:15 pm
Fiddle Workshop Saturday Jan. 19, 2019 – Tiffany Center – 2nd Floor Crystal Room East – 2:00 – 2:50 pm
Born and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma, Nokossee Fields began studying orchestral violin at a young age. After years of learning and performing Classical and Early music, Nokosee has recently turned his attention to various forms of traditional American music, performing, teaching, and touring professionally. As a bassist, he tours with the Country band Western Centuries. As a teacher, he has taught at the Augusta Heritage Center and has been involved with Dancing with the Spirit—an Alaska-based youth and community music program that aims to re-inspire fiddle and dance traditions in indigenous communities throughout the region.

Fiddle Workshop – Tiffany Center, Crystal Room East 2nd Floor – Saturday, January 19, 2-2:50 pm. Beginner/intermediate. This workshop will focus on ways to understand the fundamental mechanics of bowing. We will break down the use of speed and pressure in relation to phrasing and rhythm found in fiddle tunes.

Saturday Night Concert, Tiffany Center 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, Saturday, Jan.19, 6:00 – 6:50 pm.
Paul is a performer, and tireless promoter, of participatory traditional music and dance. Originally from Portland Oregon, and now living in Vancouver BC, Paul calls square dances, plays banjo, writes original songs, and teaches music and dance to people of all ages.

Saturday Night Concert, Saturday Jan. 19, 8-8:50 pm, 2nd Floor Crystal Room East, Tiffany Center
The Piney Gals perform traditional songs and fiddle tunes dug from the roots of American folk music. Kate Lichtenstein (the Barn Owls) and Charmaine Slaven (Squirrel Butter, The Tallboys) started singing together in 2017 on their back porches and living rooms, and found that their voices, taste in repertoire, and sense of humor meshed well together. We think you’ll enjoy the music that these two ladies of old-time music have arranged. Photo credit Tom Collicott.

Saturday Square Dance,Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room, Saturday, Jan. 19, 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Arriving at Old Time from the their punk rock roots, Devin Forest-Hines and Joel Brown have developed a raw and driving sound. Joined by Portland’s own Julay Brooks and Maxx Katz, Rats Gone to Rest channels the lawless energy and spirit of late night fiddle festivals, and rogue square dances.

Shape Note Singing – Tiffany Center, Conference Room 3rd Floor – Saturday, January 19, 12-1:50 pmShape note singing is a uniquely American tradition that brings communities together to sing four-part hymns and anthems. It is a proudly inclusive and democratic part of our shared cultural heritage. Participants are not concerned with re-creating or re-enacting historical events. Our tradition is a living, breathing, ongoing practice passed directly to us by generations of singers, many gone on before and many still living.

All participants welcome beginners and newcomers, with no musical experience or religious affiliation required. See their informative video.

Saturday Concert — Tiffany Center 2nd Floor Crystal Room East — Saturday January 19, 8 –8:50 pm
Rich Kirby has been soaked in mountain music for longer than he cares to mention. It began in the lap of his grandmother Addie Graham, an outstanding Kentucky traditional singer. That started a lifelong involvement with the music—learning, performing, collecting, recording and teaching. He was one of the founders of June Appal Recordings at Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky, and recently retired after 25 years at Appalshop’s radio station WMMT, where he still does a weekly old-time music program. He lives in Dungannon, Virginia, across the hill from the homeplace of Fiddlin’ Cowan Powers.

Song session — Tiffany Center 3rd floor Conference Room — Saturday, January 19, 3:45 – 4:50 pm
Steph Noll and Rose Minkler are a banjo and guitar duet who enjoy singing and playing together in and around Portland. They play a variety of old time and vintage country songs along with any other sweet harmonies or sassy numbers that catch their ears. Come sing with us!

Friday Night Concerts, Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room, 7:00 – 7:50 pm.
Double File is Sophie Vitells Enloe on fiddle, Isaac Enloe on banjo, Maggie Lind on guitar, and Patrick Lind on bass. These four musicians have been playing, singing, and teaching traditional music, together and in other configurations, for over fifteen years. Their sound as a stringband has been honed over these years of friendship and music, and combines creativity and musicianship with a deep loyalty to traditional styles and sounds. They are honored to be performing at this year’s Gathering.

Song session with Rose Minkler -Tiffany Center 3rd floor Conference Room — Saturday, January 19, 3:45 – 4:50 pmSquare Dance Caller — Wednesday Square Dance – The Village Ballroom, 704 NE Dekum St., Wednesday, Jan. 16, 7-8:00 pm
Steph Noll called her first dance around 2007 in the parking lot of Liberty Hall during a workshop given by Bill Martin. Since then she has enjoyed picking up dances from fabulous West Coast callers (and occasionally from a visiting Easterner). She has yet to not feel total delight at the sight of a hall full of grinning, dancing people. Playing music with friends and singing and dancing with her young kids are among her deepest joys, and she’s thrilled that her eight year olds have taken an interest in dancing squares (in between stage diving and running circles around the hall.)

Saturday Night Square Dance Caller — Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room — Saturday, January 19, 8-9:00 pm
Tony says: “I started dancing and calling dances quite by accident, but I was in good company, back in the late 1970s, with Sandy Bradley, the Gypsy Gyppo Sring Band and many other fine trouble-makers to help out. Nearly 40 years later it’s a thrill to see such a vibrant square dance scene all over the country. I like to call dances that aren’t too hard, and let the pleasure of the enterprise come partly from the dancers dancing to the music and the musicians playing to the dancers.”

Friday Concert – Tiffany Center 4th Floor Emerald Room – Friday, January 18, 8:00 – 8:50 pm
Vivian Leva and Riley Calcagno are tapping into the deepest parts of American music, taking old songs that have seldom been heard and presenting them next to their own timeless and visceral originals. When they are not performing as duo, they’re often found sitting knee to knee, playing under the canopy of trees at fiddle festivals across the country, such as the gathering where they met in June of 2016. Across any campground, or concert venue, the echos of their vibrant and magnetic harmonies ring out.

Leva, of Lexington, Virginia grew up playing and performing with her parents, Carol Elizabeth Jones and James Leva, learning traditional songs from their sources and honing her rhythmic guitar style. In June, 2017 Vivian recorded her debut album Time is Everything in close collaboration with Calcagno during an inspired session at Studio 808A in the small town of Floyd, VA. She released this album of original music on March 2nd, 2018 on Free Dirt Records to critical acclaim, including being one of Rolling Stone Country’s “10 New Artists You Need to Know.”

Riley, of Seattle, WA spent his earlier years playing with the widely recognized band The Onlies, described as “masterful” and “deliciously well-crafted” (Kithfolk) and developing his own distinct authenticity on the fiddle and banjo.

Together, Vivian and Riley have toured across the country, in living rooms and concert halls. As individuals, they have shared the stages with and played, both nationally and internationally, in the bands of Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, The Lost Tribe Of Country Music, and Bruce Molsky to name just a few. To this collaboration they bring both the steady hands of experience and a refined taste for American music, yet still a youthful abandon that can’t be forced. In 2018, they will be on tour internationally to support Vivian’s new release and bring their distinct brand of old-time and country to a festival, hall, bar, or fireplace gathering near you.

Cajun/Honky Tonk Night – The Spare Room 4830 NE 42nd Ave. — Thursday, January 17, 10:30 pm – Midnight
Zach Bryson “The One and Lonely” is a country songwriter and hillbilly yodeler from Portland, OR who plays original country music with the help of his Honk-Tonk backing band The Meat Rack who happen to be some of Portland’s best country players. They will keep you dancing to Zach’s infectious original country songs.